Method for manufacturing shaped wafers, an intermediate product and a wafer obtained by this method, and an associated mould

ABSTRACT

Wafers that are shaped, for example, as a basin (C) are obtained from an intermediate product (P) in which the aforesaid shaped parts are joined together by a substantially flat base part (A). The shaped parts (C) have a thickness of the order of, for example, 1-1.5 mm compared with the significantly greater thickness, of the order of 2.2-2.5 mm, of the base part (A). In this way it is possible to extract the intermediate product (P) from the cooking mold safely and without the risk of breakage, even when the shaped parts (C) have much thinner walls.

The present invention concerns a method for manufacturing shaped wafersaccording to the preamble of claim 1.

Specifically, the present invention concerns the manufacture of waferswhich are generally shaped, for example having a generally hemisphericalcup or basin shape, rather than the usual flat form of wafers used, forexample, to produce the filled biscuits generally known as waferbiscuits.

EP-A-0 054 229 and EP-A-0 221 033 describe solutions in whichhemispherical wafer cups are obtained by a cutting operation from anintermediate product comprising a flat base from which the hemisphericalcups project in the form of shaped pieces. Following the cuttingoperation, preferably performed in the general plane of the base, thehemispherical cups are separated from the base itself which is usuallydiscarded.

The method used to obtain the aforesaid intermediate product usuallycomprises cooking in a mould, carried out with two complementary mouldparts (for example, of cast iron) which define between them a space ofconstant, or substantially constant, thickness both in correspondencewith the base and with the shaped parts. From GB-AL 751948 anarrangement is known wherein wafer products are baked between a matingpair of mould parts provided with complementary frustums, i.e. surfacesor areas in relief (e.g. ribs) and depressions, respectively. The anglesbetween the side walls of said surfaces or areas in relief, on the onehand, and said depressions are chosen in such a way to render the waferthicker at the top of the shaped parts than at the base thereof. Thestarting material is usually constituted by a mixture based on water,flour- or flours, sugar, flavorings etc: the respective recipes, whichmay be varied according to specific-, requirements of use, are widelyknown in the food industry and do not require description here,particularly as they are not in themselves relevant to an understandingof the invention.

The mixture (wafer paste) in question is applied in such a way that,when the two mould parts are closed, the mixture itself occupies theaforesaid space. The mould is then heated (the manner in which this iscarried out is also widely known in the art) until the wafer is cookedto the desired degree. The subsequent opening of the mould makesavailable the aforesaid intermediate product from which the shapedwafers are cut.

Although fully satisfactory in relation to the problems it wasoriginally intended to solve (for example, for the manufacture ofpralines of the type described in EP-A-0 064 155 or EP-A-0 086 319), thesolution described above encounters a number of difficulties whenever itis desired to produce thinner shaped wafers (for example, having athickness of 1-1.5 mm instead of a typical thickness of approximately2.5 mm in the case of the pralines mentioned above). This is foundespecially in industrial applications, when high through-puts areessential.

In the case of very thin wafers, the risk of the intermediate productbreaking on removal from the mould increases and is, in fact,incompatible with the reliability and yield required for an industrialprocess.

The aim of the present invention is to modify the method described inthe prior art so as to make it possible to manufacture wafers shaped,for example, as a basin and which are very thin (approximately 1-1.5 mmor, possibly, even thinner).

According to the present invention, this aim is achieved by a methodhaving the characteristics claimed in claim 1. Advantageous developmentsof the invention form the subjects of sub-claims 2 to 5. The inventionalso concerns the related intermediate product having thecharacteristics claimed in claim 6 as well as the corresponding waferhaving the characteristics claimed in claim 7. The invention alsoconcerns a mould for carrying out the aforesaid method, having thecharacteristics according to claim 8. Advantageous developments of thismould form the subjects of claims 9 and 10.

The invention will now be described by way of non-limitative example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows schematically the intermediate wafer product that can beobtained according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the final product (the shaped wafer) that can be obtainedfrom the intermediate product of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 shows in detail the mould for carrying out the method accordingto the invention.

The intermediate product P shown in FIG. 1 is constituted essentially bya sheet (which, for the purpose of the present invention, can beconsidered as being of indefinite dimensions) of wafer including a flatbase part A in which are formed shaped parts C having, in thisparticular embodiment, a generally elongate basin-like shape.

To give a better idea, one is dealing with the basin-shaped half shellsintended to form the wafer shell of the food product described in PatentApplication No. PCT/EP96/00948 in the name of the same Applicant.

The wafer C (whose characteristics can be better appreciated from FIG.2, where the wafer itself is illustrated alone) is obtained from theintermediate product P by means of a cutting operation schematicallyillustrated at T in FIG. 1 only. The cutting operation may be carriedout in accordance with the method described in one of the EuropeanPatent Applications Nos. EP-A-0 054 229 or EP-A-0 221 033, that is, by acut effected parallel to the general plane of the base layer A.

One essential characteristic can be appreciated from FIG. 1 and that isthe fact that the intermediate product P is not of uniform thicknessbut, -on the contrary, is thinner (1-1.5 mm or even less) incorrespondence with the shaped parts C, in comparison with asignificantly greater thickness (2.2-2.5 mm) in the flat base part.

From this point of view, the solution according to the invention differsfrom the known solutions (and, in particular, from those adopted forpraline manufacture as described in European Patent Applications Nos.EP-A-0 064 155 or EP-A-0 086 319), where an identical or substantiallyidentical thickness (for example, with a wastage of 2.2 to 2.5 mm) isenvisaged both for the base part and the shaped part (in the form of ahemispherical cup, in the embodiments described in the PatentApplications referred to).

The solution according to the invention is based on a recognition of thefact that, on extraction from the cooking mould, the greatest stressesin the intermediate product P arise in the base part A rather than inthe shaped parts C.

For the time being, the Applicant is unable to provide an explanationfor the phenomenon observed: in effect, the opposite would be expected,namely, that the more considerable stresses would occur in the shapedparts C, due to their intimate contact with the inside of thecorresponding, complementary shaped parts of the two mould parts.

The experiments conducted by the Applicant instead show that theextraction of the intermediate product P from the cooking mould (anoperation often called "demoulding") can occur without risk of breakage,even of very thin shaped parts C, provided the base part A hassufficient thickness (for example, approximately 2.2-2.5 mm).

The provision of portions within the wafer sheet constituting theintermediate product P with such different thicknesses (the ratiobetween the thickness of the base part A and that of the shaped parts Cexceeds 1.5 and is typically at least 1.6) assumes a risk of non-uniformcooking and, hence, of non-uniform characteristics in the sheet. It is,in fact, evident that the thin parts generally tend to cook more thanthe thick parts. However, the fact that the "useful" parts (the shapedparts C) are the thinner parts, while the "waste" parts (that is, thebase part A) are the thicker parts enables the characteristics and thecooking conditions to be controlled to give the best results desired forthe useful parts without it being necessary to worry excessively about apart which is usually discarded. With the thickness ratios describedabove, the experiments conducted by the Applicant demonstrate that thebase layer A has characteristics of firmness, and hence of mechanicalstrength, such as to enable the intermediate product P to be extractedeasily and safely from the cooking mould. Besides, the Applicant hasbeen able to check that, with the thicknesses indicated above, even thebase part A has acceptable organoleptic characteristics 50 that it canbe used in a production cycle for food products.

FIG. 3 shows schematically a cooking mould usable for the manufacture(according to widely known criteria, as has been said) of theintermediate product P of FIG. 1.

In practice, the two complementary male and female mould parts,indicated 2 and 3 respectively, have structures which reproducecomplementarily (thus, positively in the case of the half-mould 2, andnegatively in the case of the half-mould 3) the shape of theintermediate product P.

In both of the elements 2 and 3, respective base parts 4, 5 andrespective shaped parts 6, 7 can be distinguished.

An important characteristic of the mould in question is that theconformation of the two mould parts 2, 3 and/or the characteristics ofthe associated spacer elements 8 (these too are usually formed as maleand female elements intended to engage each other when the mould 2 andthe counter-mould 3 are coupled together) are chosen so as to ensurethat there is a space of constant thickness, for example, approximately2.2-2.5 mm, between the base parts 4, 5 of the two coupled mould parts2, 3, while the shaped parts 6, 7 are separated by a space which isshaped like the shape of the parts C and has a constant thickness ofapproximately 1-1.5 mm (or even less, depending on requirements).

Preferably, one or both of the mould parts 2, 3 are embossed or finished(as. known per se) with a square or rhombus motif (so-called "waffle")over their entire surfaces.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining the same, thedetails of manufacture and the embodiments may be widely varied withrespect to that described and illustrated, without thereby departingfrom the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for the manufacture of shaped wafers,comprising the operations of:providing moulding means (2, 3) togetherdefining a space, including at least one substantially flat base partand at least one shaped part having a shape corresponding to that to beimparted to the wafers; filling the space with wafer mixture; subjectingthe moulding means (2, 3) containing the wafer mixture to a cookingstep; and opening the moulding means (2, 3) and extracting anintermediate product (P) resulting from the cooking of the wafer mixturein the moulding means (2, 3), a cooked product also having at least oneflat part (A) and at least one shaped part (C), wherein the space has asubstantially greater thickness in correspondence with the at least onebase part than in correspondence with the at least one shaped part. 2.The method according to claim 1, wherein the substantially greaterthickness is equal to approximately 2.2-2.5 mm.
 3. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the thickness of the at least one shaped part isequal to approximately 1-1.5 mm.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein it also includes the operation of separating, by means of acutting operation, the at least one shaped part (C) from an at least onebase part (A) in the intermediate product (P) formed by the cooking ofthe wafer mixture in the moulding means (2, 3).
 5. The method accordingto claim 4, wherein the cutting operation is carried out in a planesubstantially parallel to the plane of the respective base part (A). 6.An intermediate product based on cooked wafer mixture, obtained by themethod according to claim
 1. 7. A wafer based on cooked wafer mixture,obtained by the method of claim
 4. 8. A mould for manufacturing shapedwafers comprising two mould parts (2, 3) which can be coupled togetherin a general male and female arrangement so as to define together aspace for receiving wafer mixture to be cooked in the mould (2, 3); thespace including at least one substantially flat base part and at leastone part shaped to correspond with the shape to be imparted to thewafer, wherein the first (2) and second (3) mould parts are coupledtogether (8) in such a way that, with the first (2) and second (3) mouldparts coupled together, the space has a substantially greater thicknessin correspondence with an at least one base part (A) than incorrespondence with an at least one shaped part (C).
 9. The mouldaccording to claim 8, wherein the space has a thickness of approximately2.2-2.5 mm in correspondence with the at least one base part.
 10. Themould according to claim 8, wherein the space has a thickness ofapproximately 1-1.5 mm in correspondence with the at least one shapedpart (C).